Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Well it’s official folks, the 3rd annual Jump for Diabetes will be held at Skydive Chicago. As I mentioned in the last post, this year’s event is going to be low key compared to the past couple years. We’re encouraging jumpers from all over the country to take part by collecting pledges for their jumps [...]

Outdoor Outreach’s mission is to empower at-risk and underprivileged youth to make positive lasting changes in their lives through comprehensive outdoor programming. We use outdoor activities to provide youth with the support, resources and opportunities they need to become successful … Continue reading →

A new online store was launched by Divers Alert Network (DAN) ? a safety organization that serves the recreational scuba diving industry. ?Promoting dive safety through products and education is one of the cornerstones of DAN,? says William M. Ziefle, president and CEO of DAN Holdings. The online store is available 24 hours a day [...]

Molokini snorkeling tours are the perfect way to make the most of your Maui vacation. Molokini Crater is considered one of the premier locations for snorkeling and diving in the world, due to the breathtaking coral formations and the abundance of tropical fish and other marine life in the area. Molokini has been labeled Hawaii’s [...]

This may come as a surprise, I know it did for me the first few times, but I get a lot of PR pitches for ideas, guests posts and features for the blog. It’s not uncommon that they are highly off base and/or something that just isn’t a good fit for my blog. Usually, they [...]

Knife Show returns with this slick season recap, meshing plenty of progressive jibbery, pro-caliber skating and a tour of the High Cascade park in a dino suit with fittingly out-there edits and effects courtesy of Knife Show's Mike Benson.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

We’ve been talking a LOT about high water of late–on the phone, over email, on this blog.� Every spring we’re excited when the Sierra snowpack starts to melt and fill our rivers to the brim.� This year, with the truly epic amount of snow, there’s plenty to talk about.� Herewith, the top 5 reasons we [...]

The first season of the Polar Opposites web series from DC teammates Iikka Backstrom and Devun Walsh comes to an end as the two join Lonnie Kauk and Lauri Heiskari to send it in the Whistler backcountry. Backstrom suffered a knee injury late in the season, but hopefully he'll be back in action when full length Polar Opp episodes return at the beginning of next season.

Never Summer’s upcoming team film "Shred 'em All" teaser gets back to basics, focusing partly upon on freeride fun rather than just set up step ups and heli trips. There's still a bit of big-mountain madness in the mix courtesy Ryan Cruze and co, and Clint Mansell's "Requiem for a Dream" score makes anything seem epic, remixed or not.

I have been needing a fish-eye lens for my new Canon T2i HDDSLR for a while, so I was stoked when Lensbaby offered to send me their Scout fisheye to review. I had been looking at the verious 8mm fisheyes which provides a 180 degree field of view like the now classic death lens. The Scout is a 12mm lens and not quite as wide with a 160 degree field of view but is a lot cheaper than most fisheyes. As part of Lensbaby?s Optic Swap system, the fisheye optics can be switched out for other optics like pinhole or plastic lens. If you already have a compatible Lensbaby, you can buy the fisheye optic by itself saving around $100. I had been using the GoPro HD hHero for fisheye shots but that has it?s own limitations. Here is an unscientific comparison of the VX-2000 with a century .3X fisyeye, the GoPro, and the Scout.

I was impressed that the Scout was made of metal and has a very solid feel. The vignettes on the edges give images an early 90?s feel. The aperture is changed not with a ring like on other lenses but by switching out aperture disks. This requires you to unscrew the front element and drop the disk in place, a bit cumbersome when you are out in the streets but I doubt most people would need to change disks very often. I had a lot of fun shooting with a fisheye again and the Scout will likely be my go to fisheye for the foreseeable future.

If you are serious about shooting or filming skateboarding then you?ll want a wider, sharper, more expensive lens. If you are taking a more laid back approach and you think you may use other optics in the Lensbaby system then the Scout is worth considering. Below are a few skate shots taken with the Scout.

Knife Show returns with this slick season recap, meshing plenty of progressive jibbery, pro-caliber skating and a tour of the High Cascade park in a dino suit with fittingly out-there edits and effects courtesy of Knife Show's Mike Benson.

While there are many sights to see in Maui, some of the best adventures take place in the waters surrounding the islands. Maui boat tours help you experience your vacation to the fullest, whether you want to spend you time whale watching, snorkeling or taking in a spectacular Hawaiian sunset. We have tips to help [...]

Kassia Meador is a professional surfer, model, artist and photographer in Oceanside, California. She creates unique and beautiful photo art by blowing up and mounting her photos on wooden frames, then painting on them with watercolours and coloured resins. She shoots exclusively with film and loves the polaroid transfer technique. We can’t really put it [...]

We’ve totally refreshed Californian artist Marc Christian Kunze‘s profile with re-mastered artwork and a few new pieces too. We love the level of detail in Marc’s work, see what you think… Once you get to his profile click the images to see an enlargement and let us know what you think in the comments below. [...]

Friday, June 17, 2011

Divers Like It Dry! Divers have a tough life sometimes, especially in a logistical sense (and in the way that they have to relax on boats and then dive in the most beautiful spots on the globe – it?s a tragedy!). A diver has to take a small fortunes worth of delicate gear from his [...]

Here’s a video that Jessie McCarthy posted on Professor Paddle a while ago.� It’s a good example of how you can run something no problem one time and then the next time be a little bit off and turn into a cautionary tale.� Watch the rescue and see how many things go wrong.

Welcome to the 2nd installment of our iPhone app series. We are big supporters of the Locavore movement and the recently released free California Certified Farmers Markets app comes in extremely handy. Just last week, we were looking for a … Continue reading →

Never Summer’s upcoming team film "Shred 'em All" teaser gets back to basics, focusing partly upon on freeride fun rather than just set up step ups and heli trips. There's still a bit of big-mountain madness in the mix courtesy Ryan Cruze and co, and Clint Mansell's "Requiem for a Dream" score makes anything seem epic, remixed or not.

"Shifting Perception" as seen below, is a painting by Jay Alders inspired by the destructive earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011. Jays says: "This painting just came to me with a glimpse of inspiration, a feeling of empathy and a sense that it needed to be expressed." "Despite differences in Global politics and [...]